[OT] Tatty, old computers.

[stephen barncard]

Hey Bro' if you got the time, then more power to ya.....

-------------------------
Stephen Barncard
San Francisco
http://barncard.com


2009/4/21 Richmond Mathewson <richmondmathewson at gmail.com>

> As every single one of my computers is at least 5 years old (come, come,
> the parts out of which
> my Frankenstein Pentium 4 are composed must have a half century between
> them), I have a
> choice:
>
> 1. Chuck them out when bits go bust.
>
> 2. Learn, and repair things.
>
> The former is probably the root of what we could call the "Western
> sickness"; try whispering
> that in Gordon Brown's shell-like ear (well, its really a flappy, great,
> Scots lug!), or that of
> Barak Obama (similarly large) and see where it gets you! As a right-wing
> eco-green sort of chap
> (work that one out), I find both the reliance of socialists on state
> support, and
> the horrors of rampant greed-fueled consumerism as awful.
>
> Now, Alexander Taylor Annal, a man who my older son is named after, who
> died at 99
> 2 years ago, kept a 1938 Fordson tractor going until 2000; and cried when
> it finally died.
> If he could do that, there doesn't seem any earthly reason why I cannot try
> to keep
> a few computers going a spot longer than their warranty. And every time I
> do it is one
> in the eye for King Camp Gillette, the inventor of inbuilt obsolescence.
>
> Oddly enough, have just disembowelled a 40 year old Russian fridge and got
> it
> working again :)
>
> sincerely, Richmond Mathewson.
>
>
>
> stephen barncard wrote:
>
>> I guess the EU has lobbyists too. How nice for the manufacturers.
>>
>> -------------------------
>> Stephen Barncard
>> San Francisco
>> http://barncard.com
>>
>>
>> 2009/4/21 François Chaplais <francois.chaplais at mines-paristech.fr>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Le 21 avr. 09 à 18:32, Richmond Mathewson a écrit :
>>>
>>>  <
>>>    .....
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> I am bemused by all the commercial hype to endlessly upgrade; most PCs
>>>> currently on the market
>>>> can do a lot more than the average consumer will ever require.
>>>>
>>>> I run a G4 Mac (Mirror Door 2003, Dual Proc.), a PPC Mac Mini, a G3
>>>> iMac,
>>>> and a "Bits-and-Bobs-flung-together-from-
>>>> the-discard-pile" Pentium 4: between them they satisfy all my computing
>>>> needs.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> My ability to get old computers working is strictly restricted to
>>>> bunging
>>>> an install disk into the CD drive!
>>>>
>>>> If the computing world would sit back and think a bit, instead of
>>>> continually spending money on ever more
>>>> spiffy computers, and filling up landfills like nobody's business; they
>>>> might see the virtues of hanging on to
>>>> older hardware and "milking it" as long as possible: this is, ultimately
>>>> far more 'green' than buying
>>>> Steve Jobs' "latest thang", which, supposedly, is so 'eco' that it gives
>>>> free massages to members of greenpeace :)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> A few years ago I went to my favorite Apple reseller to repair my wife's
>>> iBook. The technician told me it was not possible anymore; more
>>> precisely,
>>> the older French law forced manufacturers to supply spare parts for ten
>>> years, whereas, in a later application of a E.U. "regulation", only five
>>> years of spare parts supply were required now; which means that, you
>>> actually cannot spare parts after five years.
>>> Which also means that, if a company does not have a brand policy,
>>> everything will be designed to break apart after 5 years.
>>> Recently tested with a washing machine.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>       François
>>>
>>>
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